


Re-connect

by red_pandas_and_books



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 17:25:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16623257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_pandas_and_books/pseuds/red_pandas_and_books
Summary: Alternate universe (I guess) where when Kendra touched the first horn for the first time, she recharges it and connects to the owner.





	Re-connect

**Author's Note:**

> If some of the dialogue in the beginning seems familiar, that's because it was stolen or improvised from the book. *le gasp* I have no idea how much longer I'll play this out, because I feel like it would drastically alter the way the story changed, including how fast they would find Living Mirage. I just loved the concept and was excited to play with it.

Kendra was worried about Seth as she trudged up the stairs to the attic. He'd actually gotten the horn. None of them had ever seriously considered stealing it, seeing it would be impossible for them, but Seth had done it. And now he was in trouble. 

Kendra hovered by the foot of the attic stairs. She couldn't help but remember all the things that she had done without permission to help. She'd led Seth into the woods when their grandfather got kidnapped, she went to an island she knew might kill her, she'd crossed naiads eager to drown her multiple times, she'd entered the vault of Sands of Sanctuary, she'd entered the vault of another artifact, she'd helped with the shadow plague last year, she'd escaped a lectoblix by trusting a stranger, she'd used the Oculus willingly. Kendra had done a lot of things and made a lot of dangerous choices her grandparents wouldn't have approved of at the time. 

She pushed on, climbing up the stairs and entering the attic. She scanned the room, but there was no sign of Seth. He may be in the bathroom or may have gone outside. Kendra turned to leave when Seth spoke up behind her. 

"I'm here." 

She whirled around. He was standing right in the middle of the room, horn in his hand. His eyes were a little red, and he looked agitated. She scanned his immediate surroundings. There was no place he could have hid nearby. 

"There you are! Where were you?" 

"Here all along." 

Kendra glanced around the room again. The curtains were drawn and the lights were off, but it didn't seem too dark. It was pretty impressive. "Wow, I guess that shade walker thing really works. It isn't that dark in here." 

He shrugged, seemingly not that impressed with it. "Did you want to scold me too?" 

A pang of guilt stung her, as Kendra rushed to reassure him. 

"Actually I wanted to make sure you were all right. And to check out the unicorn horn." 

Kendra was actually really excited about the horn. She wondered if this was how Seth felt when he thought about dragons. It would explain a lot. It took a bit of convincing, but Seth eventually sighed and held it out to her. 

"Okay. You can hold it for a minute." 

She took it from him, weighing it in her hand. "You're right, it does feel heavier than it looks." 

The horn was cool to touch, but the longer Kendra held it, the more it felt like it was alive. She kept a watch on her feelings to see if she felt like she should return it, but the horn felt comfortable in her hand. 

"No guilt?" Seth sounded a little disappointed. 

"None. It's so white." 

"Guess they won't be needing me after all." 

Kendra went to hand the horn back to Seth. 

 _Hello?_   

Kendra turned and looked side to side. There was no one in the attic aside from her and her brother.

"Did you hear that?"

Seth shook his head, clearly baffled. He stared at her as she went and peeked out the door frame and down the stairs. There was no one there. 

Seth cleared his throat. "So... are you feeling like you want to return the horn now?" 

 _Can you hear me?_  

Kendra shook her head. "There's a voice. It just spoke again. Can you really not hear it?" 

Seth shrugged. "Maybe it's coming from the horn." 

They both stared incredulously at the horn in Kendra's grasp. 

Kendra gasped as another tentative  _Hello?_ came again, almost echoing in her head. Seth eyed her. 

"What is it saying?" 

"It keeps asking 'Hello' and asking if I can hear it." 

"Well, respond then!" 

Kendra gaped at Seth. "What? No! We don't know who's talking or if they're friendly or not. Maybe I should have lectured you about going and stealing the horn!" 

Seth rolled his eyes and huffed. "We both know my plan was great. Besides, it's a unicorn horn. Aren't unicorns supposed to be all good and sunshine and rainbows and stuff? You should be way more excited right now. The unicorn the horn came from is probably trying to talk to you." 

Kendra ignored the messages that kept coming to her brain. "Why didn't he speak to you then?" 

"Oh, so it's a he?" 

"Shut up." 

Seth thought for a moment. "Maybe it's because you're a fairy kind, and he felt safe talking to you. Maybe it needed to be recharged again." 

Kendra paused, gazing thoughtfully at the horn. "Do you think that unicorns are part of the fairy kingdom?" 

A snort came from Seth's direction. "Probably. They seem lame enough to." 

 _Hello? Is anyone there?_  

Kendra thought about the unicorn who's horn this had been. 

 _Hello?_ she thought back. 

 _Hi!_ The response was immediate and enthusiastic. Kendra could almost hear relief in it. 

 _Who are you?_ She thought back. 

Kendra had never thought she could hear a chuckle in her head, but there came one all the same.  _I could ask you the same question. Where did you get my horn?_

"Are you talking to him?" Seth prodded, looking excited despite his stated low opinion of unicorns. "Can I talk to him?"

"He wants to know how I got his horn," She said hesitantly. 

"So tell him! It's his horn and maybe he can tell us how Patton got his horn." Seth gasped. "Maybe he's met Patton! Does he sound old?"

Kendra shook her head. "He sounds young, but older than us." 

"So..." Seth hedged, a smirk creeping up. "Gavin's age?" 

Kendra resisted the urge to roll her eyes and blushed despite her resistance. "Yeah, you're right actually." 

_Are you still there?_

_Yeah, just give me a moment. This is a lot to process..._

_I'm not going anywhere._

Seth hadn't noticed her mental conversation with the unicorn and had gone on talking. "Maybe Gavin will be there. They'll probably need a dragon-taming prodigy like him in a dragon sanctuary. And if you go, which you probably will because they'll need you to counter the distracter spell. This will be your second date at a deadly wildlife park! Next time you guys should go miniature golfing." 

"You're a weirdo." Kendra responded. She probably would have been more embarrassed if she wasn't so concerned with whom ever was on the other side of the horn. She peered back at him, trying to draw the attention away from herself. "Why do you want to go so badly?" 

"Would I love to see dragons? Sure, who wouldn't? Besides you, I mean. You can go see your little unicorn friend after all of this is done, though you'll probably have to give the horn back. But the more important reason I want to go is simple. We have to stop the Sphinx or we're all doomed, and I know I can help do it." 

"There are lots of ways to help," Kendra argued back at him. 

"Good point. Maybe I can pack your sack lunches" 

"You don't have to do everything." 

"Nope. Just the boring stuff." Didn't Seth see that this was important and dangerous, or was stealing a unicorn horn from a bunch of centaurs not exciting enough? "Maybe I'll write the Sphinx a stern letter." 

Kendra ignored the comment and laid a hand on his shoulder. She was still holding the horn. "No matter what happens, promise me that you won't do anything stupid." 

"Like to talk to a random unicorn I just met." 

"Promise." 

Seth sighed, looking down at the horn in Kendra's hand. "We'll see." He brightened. "Now I want to try talking to the unicorn." 

Kendra handed the horn back to him. He looked expectantly at it. "How do you talk to him?" 

"It's kind of telepathically. He spoke in my mind, and I thought of things I wanted to say back." 

Seth scrunched his eyes and gripped the horn tightly. Kendra was pretty sure he was holding his breath too. He opened his eyes and shook his head. "I've got nothing."

"Let me see it again. He told me he was going to be there. Maybe it's because you're new." 

"You think he's shy?" 

"Well, we haven't seen any unicorns before have we? Maybe they're all shy. Now, let me hold it again." 

Kendra grabbed it from Seth's hand and thought back to the unicorn.  _Sorry. I was talking to my brother._  

_It's alright. It's been a long time since I've had any connection with my first horn._

Kendra thought back to how old Patton had been. He must not have seen it since then, or even before.  _We got it from a bunch of centaurs._

_Of all the places I thought it would have ended up, that possibility eluded me._

_Is it okay if you talk to my brother too? Just so I know I'm not going crazy._

_Sure, but I still don't know who you are._

_I don't know who you are either._

_True, but unicorns are generally trustworthy. Plus, a unicorn is the only one who can communicate with someone with their horn._

Kendra paused. He had a point, but everything he said could be a lie. He could be working in league with the Sphinx. 

_My name is Kendra._

_Bracken. You must be fairy struck if you can speak Silvian._

_I'd rather not divulge that. Could you please just talk to my brother? His name is Seth._

_Of course, Kendra._

Seth watched on curiously. She handed him the horn, and he closed his eyes again. After a minute or so, he opened them again, frustrated. He flopped onto the bed with a groan. 

"Nothing! Are you sure you're not just making this up?" 

"Of course not! I'm pretty sure I'm going crazy right now, and I asked him to talk to you. He said he would." 

"Then why can't I hear him?" 

Kendra thought for a moment. It would be really hard to convince her grandparents that everything was fine if they couldn't talk to Bracken themselves. "Maybe it's because I'm fairy kind?"  

Kendra sat on the bed next to him. "Maybe we should try when I'm holding the horn too." 

Seth sat up. "You think that'll work?"

Kendra shrugged. "Only one way to find out." 

She grasped the top half of the horn while Seth kept hold of the bottom. 

_Bracken?_

A sour response came.  _Your brother is a shadow charmer._

Kendra looked at Seth in alarm, but his eyes were closed and there was a smile on his face. 

_I see. That makes sense. Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Seth. I'm Bracken._

_Wait, he spoke to you? Why didn't I hear it?_

_One moment_ , Bracken responded.

Kendra kept her eyes open and trained on Seth. He opened them in awe to mouth "This is so cool!" at her. He closed his eyes again. Kendra stared around the room, trying not to feel left out. Seth eventually opened his eyes with a huff of pleasure and smiled at her. He pushed the horn closer to her and let go of it. 

"Bracken is pretty cool, not gonna lie. I thought he would be way lamer being a unicorn and all that. He said he can hold conversations with both of us, but you need to be holding the horn when that happens." 

"Wait, how does he know that?" 

"Oh I told him you were fairy kind." 

"What!?" Kenda rose to her feet. She stared back at Seth who looked a little confused at her outburst. "Seth, we don't know anything about him! He's a complete stranger! He could be working for the Sphinx!" 

Seth was about to reply when Tanu's voice drifted in from somewhere below. 

"Kendra? Seth? Is everything okay?" 

Seth ran to the door to the attic, leaning out over the stairs. "Kendra can use the horn to talk to the unicorn!" 

"What unicorn?" This time Coulter spoke. 

"The unicorn who's horn we just got! I talked to him too. His name is Bracken." 

  _Alright, Kendra, I'm back. Your brother gave me a lot to think about. I hope our conversing didn't bother you too much._

Kendra took a deep breath.  _I'm going to have to talk to you later. Right now, I've got to go._ She walked out to join Seth at the top of the stairs. Warren was joining Coulter and Tanu at the base of the stairs, looking baffled. Kendra followed Seth downstairs as he prattled on about Bracken. 

"What's this about a Bracken?" Kendra reached the bottom of the stairs to see Grandpa peering out of his study. Seth beckoned wildly to the unicorn horn she held. 

"Kendra can talk to the unicorn who owned that horn! I can too, but only if Kendra is holding it." 

Kendra felt all eyes on her. It made her uncomfortable. Grandpa Sorenson gazed at her thoughtfully. "You'd better come in and tell us about this Bracken then Kendra." 

 


End file.
